Young and old pay tribute

World War II veteran Bill Dalzell stretched his neck and shielded his eyes against the afternoon sun to get a glance at the free-falling Canadians before they released their red and white parachutes.

Shortly afterward, under the safety of Canadian-flag themed chutes, Skyhawks demonstration team members were showing off their aerial acrobatics, twisting and turning mid-air, before landing at Columbia Regional Airport.

“Thank goodness I didn’t have to do any of that,” Dalzell, 85, said, recalling his aviation experience during the war. “One time they told us to get ready to jump, but we didn’t have to.”

Was he scared to jump?

“Damned right,” he said.

But the demonstration teams that performed at the Salute to Veterans Air Show yesterday have nothing on those who fought in World War II, said Mike Levandier, one of the Skyhawk jumpers from Oromocto, New Brunswick.

Unlike the scrappier, less advanced equipment used in World War II combat, “our equipment is modern and so safe,” Levandier, 22, said. “They were a lot braver than we are.”

Bravery was on display yesterday at the 22nd annual air show, an event that honors veterans and current military efforts. Organizers did not have an official attendance count but agreed crowds were comparable to past years thanks to nice weather and a few new attractions.

Dalzell returned to the air show this year for the first time in several years.

“I went to the first few, and then it was the same thing over and over,” he said. “But I’m getting older, so I thought I’d better see what’s new.”

Dalzell mostly enjoyed the World War II-era aircraft, even though the show did not include a TBF/TBM Avenger like the ones he helped fly during the war. The torpedo bombers were used to blast enemy troops out of caves.

“We had to bomb them out so they wouldn’t shoot at our fleet,” Dalzell said. “It worked.”

Earl Malizia, who served in the Army from 1944 to 1946, also preferred the older planes at yesterday’s show. Although he was on the ground in the infantry and later military police and didn’t fly during the war, Malizia is a past volunteer and a longtime supporter of the air show.

“I enjoy the World War II airplanes,” he said as a modern-day U.S. Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt II zipped by overhead.

The Thunderbolt’s pilot, Capt. Joe “Rifle” Shetterly, no doubt was out to impress as he rolled the aircraft in the sky and demonstrated nosedives, sideway flights and other maneuvers.

When it came time to participate in the annual Heritage Flight, though, Shetterly let a classic World War II P-38 Lightning fly slightly ahead of him as they circled the crowd.

The Salute to Veterans Air Show continues today from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. On Monday, the celebration continues with a downtown parade starting at 9:55 a.m. followed by a 10:45 a.m. military ceremony at the Boone County Courthouse Veterans Memorials.